A federal district court judge in Arizona denied the RIAA attorneys motion for a summery judgment against two Kazaa file sharers, according to Billboard.biz. The court ruled that the two defendants, Pamela and Jeffrey Howell, did not unlawfully distribute copyrighted work by simply making it available on the Kazaa filesharing network. The court said that to qualify for infringement, the owner of the copyright must prove the "actual dissemination of copies or phonorecords."
This comes into play in this lawsuit because the music labels sued the defendants for allegedly distributing 54 music files, but the RIAA investigators only downloaded 12 of those files and the label attorneys did not provide evidence that their investigators or other Kazaa users downloaded the remaining 42 files.
The court also ruled that the labels must prove at trial that Howell was responsible for sharing the 12 files that are still part of the case. While this decision only impacts cases in that federal district in Arizona, defense attorneys could call upon the court's arguments in other cases.
Travel News, Trips and Tips: Road Trip Essentials
Hot In The City: Carin Leon Will Open For The Rolling Stones in Arizona
Caught In The Act: Ministry Rocks Chicago
Sammy (Hagar) Super Sunday Coming To TV
Anthrax Reuniting With Dan Lilker For Upcoming Live Dates
NEEDTOBREATHE To Livestream Red Rocks Concert
Bruce Dickinson Making Appearance At WonderCon For
Joe Bonamassa Plays Jimi Hendrix's A Vintage 'Band of Gypsys' Rig At Nerdville
Vampire Weekend Stream 'Mary Boone' Visualizer
Paul Di'Anno's Warhorse Deliver 'Stop The War' EP
The Exies Return With 'For What It's Worth'